


Madness in the Country

by Blink_Blue



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Crack, M/M, Oliver's new in town, Oliver's shy jealous and cute, Sir Roost-A-Lot, Underage Drinking, brief mention of Connor/Pax, everyone's trying to get rid of their overabundance of zucchini, him and Connor are neighbors, is a rooster, mentions of cow tipping, minor recreational drug use, rural life, so many vegetable puns, zucchini - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 17:04:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7900786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blink_Blue/pseuds/Blink_Blue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“If you try to pawn one more damn zucchini on me, I will LOSE my mind.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Madness in the Country

**Author's Note:**

> Heavily influenced by this [tumblr post](http://winters-blue-children.tumblr.com/post/146734226979/beaufortcullen-kynthaworld-dragoneyes).

“The folks who moved in next door, they seem really nice. Have you… talked to them yet?”

Connor blinks from his spot leaning on the counter, barely paying any attention. He frowns as he narrow his eyes at the oven silently lost in thought. The smell of zucchini lasagna—nearly done its 350 degree bake—wafts out into the kitchen. It honestly wouldn’t be so terrible… his mother is a great cook even on the worst of days. But… ’tis the season. It’s _that_ time of year again. Specifically, harvesting season. And every single year, there is no crop more abundant, more fruitful, than the damn _zucchini._

“Connor, are you listening to me?” His mother asks again, staring at her son.

“Huh?” He glances up dumbly.

“The new family who moved in next door, have you talked to them yet?” She asks innocently, though Connor already knows where she’s going with this. “They have a nice boy about your age,” she adds nonchalantly.

Connor sighs. He only caught a split second glimpse of the new family from his bedroom window as they were moving in a few days ago. They seem like fine people. Although there’s a definite air of… city to them. Connor snorts to himself, thinking they’re in for quite a shock of adjusting to the rural lifestyle.

“You should bring them some of our vegetables, a welcome basket! Cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, maybe some fresh fruit… _zucchini_ ,” she emphasizes.

Connor groans and rolls his eyes as he straightens and heads for the pantry. Harvesting season means the Walsh pantry is stocked to the brim, overflowing with the fruits of his mother’s labor. Literally. He picks up a wicker basket lying on the floor and looks around the small room. Every shelf is stocked full with various fruits and vegetables from his mother’s garden.

One pile, larger than the rest, sticks out like a sore thumb. The zucchini. Connor leans down and quickly fills his basket with the oblong vegetable. Of course, he throws in some tomatoes, onions, and beans along with it… just a few. Just enough to not raise any suspicions from their new neighbors. He carefully rearranges the vegetables, and even throws in a turnip, right on top. Finally satisfied, he stands with the heavy basket in his arms, nods to his mother as he walks past, and heads out the door.

Thankfully, he doesn’t have far to go. He walks around the fence separating their properties, and gives an incredulous glare at the neighbor’s new mailbox, embroidered with shiny gold letters: _The Hampton’s._ How fucking _tacky_ , Connor thinks to himself. Who do these people think they are? There’s literally a population of 3000 people in this town. Everybody knows everybody, who needs their fucking name on their mailbox?!

When he’s finally done silently judging his new neighbors, and he’s just about to walk up the steps to the front porch, he just so happens to glance down the street. And he nearly drops his basket. Because about a half a block down the road, is one Miss Michaela Pratt. She must see him about the same time he sees her because she stops dead in her tracks, basket in hand.

Connor grins at the anger on her face. Well, he assumes it’s anger, it’s kind of hard to tell at this distance. Can she see the glee in his eyes?? Can she?? Connor quickly readjusts the basket onto one arm and waves obnoxiously with the other. Michaela visibly huffs at his antics and turns on her heel, looking this way and that at the houses on their street, clearly looking for a different place to drop off her burden.

He’s glad he got to the new neighbors first.

He knocks on the door, three times in rapid succession, and waits a good twelve seconds before turning towards the empty driveway, then back at the door. Relief floods him and he thanks his lucky stars that he doesn’t have to make awkward small talk with strangers and quickly sets the basket down next to the door. He even takes a second to rearrange the tomatoes in a poor attempt to hide the overwhelming majority of zucchinis covering the base of the basket, then skips back down the steps and back to his own house.

After all, he has a zucchini lasagna to look forward to.

It’s mildly appetizing.

Actually, it’s really not bad at all. Sick as he may be of the excessive zucchini in his diet.

The next day as he’s lazing on the sofa, enjoying what remains of his summer break, a loud knock sounds on the front door. He’s the only one home. Thinking it’s probably Asher coming over to play Call of Duty again, Connor groans and reluctantly answers the door.

But when the door swings open, it’s not Asher on the other side.

It’s a guy, about his age, with a nervous smile and the cutest thick rimmed nerd glasses on his face.

“Hello,” Connor says with a soft smile on his face as he tilts his head to the side, taking in the sight of him. He immediately recognizes him as his new neighbor from his move in day. He had only seen the back of the guy’s head, and little did he know, his new neighbor is… _hot._

“Um… hi.” The guy says nervously, looking surprised himself at the person who greeted him at the door.

“Let me guess,” Connor drawls. “You’re one of the Hamptons.”

The guy laughs softly as he wrings his hands together. “Yeah, I’m—I’m Oliver. I… guess we’re neighbors.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Oliver. I’m Connor.” Of course, Connor has to give him the smirk that makes all the other boys in town fall to his feet, and _goddamn_ this guy is really adorable when he smiles. His eyes crinkle, and his cheeks look cute enough to pinch. And he really pulls off the shy, nervous thing well. And then Connor’s eyes glance down at the rest of him—simple shorts and a tight fitting t-shirt—the rest of the deal looks delectable as well.

“Did you get my welcome _package_?” It’s a subtle emphasis. The way Oliver’s eyes widen is subtle as well, but it doesn’t go unnoticed by Connor.

“Um, y-yeah. I actually came over to thank you. I uh—I was actually home when you stopped by but I think I must have had headphones in or something, because I didn’t hear you knock. But I saw you through my window! As—as you were heading back. Um, anyway…” Oliver must suddenly realize he’s rambling. “Uh… my dad made a stir fry with the basket last night. It was really good! Um… heavy on the zucchini. But very good!” He says quickly.

Connor continues grinning throughout Oliver’s nervous babble. “It all came from my mother’s garden. She works hard on it. _Really hard._ ”

Oliver blinks. “Um… Uh… Well, it was all really great, and um… my parents will probably come by later to thank your mom personally, but I… I just wanted to stop by when I had the chance. Um… I… kind of just wanted to meet someone my age, I guess. Heh… anyway…” Oliver awkwardly looks down at the ground, and a small voice inside Connor’s head that he doesn’t like to listen to—the _nice_ voice—wants to just grab him in his arms, drag him inside the house, and say ‘let’s be friends!’

“Anyway… the zucchini was great! We’ve still got a bunch of them, of course… And the tomatoes were good too, uh…” Oliver seems pretty desperate for anything to prolong the conversation.

“Yeah,” Connor nods, a smirk on his lips. Maybe he’ll help the guy out a bit. “Big tomatoes, right? Juicy?”

Oliver nods quickly.

“You liked those big tomatoes?” Well, he’s not going to make it _easy_ for him.

Oliver kind of stares at him a bit, like he’s not sure if Connor is fucking with him or not. He finally decides to ignore it. “So… your mother has a garden?”

Connor nods his head. “In a town like this, most people do. Let me guess, you’re city folk?”

Oliver gives him a soft smile. “Is it that obvious?”

“Blatantly.” Connor opens the door a bit wider and gestures inside. “You want to come in?”

The grateful relief is clear as day on Oliver’s face. “Yeah, sure!”

“Do you like Call of Duty?”

“Yeah, I play!” Oliver says eagerly.

Now Connor’s not a big fan of video games, but it’s at least something to do that makes conversation a bit less awkward. It takes away the horribly awkward eye contact that comes along with it. Plus if Oliver wants to kick his ass at Call of Duty, well, Connor’s not going to be a sore loser about it. And he’s probably less annoying to play with than Asher anyway.

“You starting at the high school in the fall?” Connor asks, handing one of the controllers to the other man.

“Yeah, I’m going to be a junior,” Oliver says. “You?”

“Sophomore,” Connor replies as he gets the game set up. “How are you liking the rural life so far?”

“It’s… interesting.”

“No, it’s not.” Connor says, deadpan. “It’s boring as hell. Where are you from?”

Oliver can’t help but grin at Connor’s blunt honesty. “Philadelphia,” he says. “My dad got a transfer at work.”

“I bet you miss the big city.”

“Yeah, it’s… it’s a bit of an adjustment. I mean, a thirty minute drive just to get to the closest grocery store? I can’t even… it’s insane!”

Connor nods, eyes fixed on the screen where Oliver is currently kicking his ass, just as he thought he would. “We have a shitty theater with a single screen, and a rundown bowling alley that is literally falling apart. So yeah, not much to do in a small town like this. But you learn to find ways to occupy your time.” Sometimes that includes a bet with Michaela that he couldn’t steal a chicken from mean old Mr. Wilson’s coop in the dead of night. Sometimes it includes Asher raiding his parents’ liquor cabinet and all of them waking up feeling like someone took a sledgehammer to their heads. And sometimes it includes convincing Laurel to steal her father’s car for a midnight joyride. The look on her dad’s face when they returned it was nearly enough to make them crap their pants. Laurel must have thought it was worth it though, she and Wes were making out in the corn fields for nearly an hour.

Connor thinks Oliver might make a nice addition to their ragtag little group.

“It’s kind of terrifying, if I’m going to be honest.”

“Hm?” Connor curses silently as his shooter loses yet another life.

“Moving out here… to a new state, a new town, a new school… And especially going into junior year when everybody’s already made their friends and they have their own little groups… I’m kind of nervous about the start of the school year… Kind of worried about making friends, I guess…”

Connor pauses, his thumbs frozen on the controller and he turns to the other man. It’s not often that he feels sorry for other people, but this guy seems so… _nice._ He chews on his lip, completely ignoring the fact that he’s losing so badly it’s near embarrassing. “My friend Wes is in your year,” he finally says. “Good guy, you’ll probably have a bunch of classes with him. I mean the high school only has like a hundred fifty students. And you’ll know me! We’ll see each other in the hallway all the time, probably even eat lunch together!”

Oliver gives him a small smile that for some unexplainable reason pulls at Connor’s heart strings and tickles his stomach with warm fuzzy feelings. He quickly curses those feelings away and turns back to the screen. “You’ll make friends in no time, Oliver.”

“Thanks,” Oliver finally says, a small grin on his lips.

They continue to play for a while longer, until Connor finally decides he’s sick of losing (quite badly). He’s a good sport about it, but Oliver does rib him a bit.

“You suck.”

Connor rolls his eyes and throws his controller to the side. He glances at the clock, glad to see that the afternoon had passed, and it wasn’t as boring or mundane as he thought it’d be.

“I should probably get going, my parent’s will be home soon. They’ll wonder where I wandered off to, given that I have no car and there’s all of nothing within walking distance.”

Connor nods as they both stand. “Yeah, my mom and sister will be back soon as well. I’m going to feed the chickens before they get back.”

Oliver’s eyes widen comically. “You have chickens?” He whispers.

“Like, almost everybody has chickens.”

“I should tell my mom to get us some chickens,” Oliver murmurs. “Um… I have to get going but, maybe I could come see them some time?”

Connor shrugs. “Yeah sure. You like chickens?”

“Well I’ve never actually seen a chicken up close,” Oliver says with a dorky smile. “But I think they’re cute,”

Connor scoffs. “They’re not so cute when you’re cleaning the coop and they’re struggling to pop out an egg or nipping at your fingers, but whatever.”

Oliver laughs. “Well, thanks again, Connor. For the vegetables, and you know just… hanging out.”

“Yeah, no problem. Hey, if you’re not doing anything tomorrow, we should hang out!”

Oliver’s face lights up like a Christmas tree.

“Oh, you know what, before you go…” Connor quickly runs into the kitchen, grabbing a plastic bag from one the drawers and heading to the pantry. He throws about half a dozen zucchini into the bag before running back out into the living room. “More zucchini for my new neighbor!”

Oliver stares at the bag.

“… and my new friend!” Connor quickly shoves the bag into Oliver’s arms before the other man can protest.

“Um…”

“Got some big zucchini in there for you. The biggest.” Connor says with a wink, grinning from ear to ear.

Oliver continues to stare, slack jawed.

“Oh and anytime you want some more vegetables, my pantry is open. Seriously. Open and overflowing. We can’t possibly eat them all before they go bad. So please, help yourself anytime.”

“T-thanks,” Oliver stutters. “I’ll uh… I’ll keep that in mind,” he says as he heads out the door, now staring down at the bag in his arms, as if wondering how he’s suddenly walking away with more zucchini than he showed up with.

And maybe Connor ogles his ass a bit as Oliver walks down the steps. And maybe he’s grinning like an idiot to himself as he takes care of the chickens in their backyard. And maybe when Gemma comes home and sees the goofy smile on his face she asks which unfortunate boy caught his eye this time.

Maybe he tosses a throw pillow at his sister.

Maybe he spends the rest of the night thinking about the cute boy next door, and wishing that the view from his bedroom window saw into Oliver’s bedroom and not the bathroom. Wait. No, that’s way too creepy. Too bad Oliver didn’t seem to respond to any of his flirtations. Though, maybe he wasn’t being obvious enough. Clearly, he’ll have to turn it up.

It turns out Oliver seems to get along well with _everyone._ Why on earth the guy was worried about making friends is simply baffling. Connor introduces him to the gang, and within an hour, it’s like he’s one of them. Michaela gushes at him, asking about what city life is like. And Connor would never admit it, but he’s pretty curious himself. And it turns out Wes and Oliver have quite a few classes together. They even signed up for the same elective. At some point, typical Asher, made some rude insensitive comment, to which Oliver, being unaccustomed to it, kind of stares in shock. And in typical Laurel fashion, she berates him for being an ass, which Oliver chuckles at, a lovely sight in itself.

By the end of the day, as Oliver and Connor walk back to their houses side by side, Oliver’s wearing a wide grin on his face.

“Hey, thanks again.” He says, turning to Connor. “Thanks for being so cool, and inviting me to meet your friends. I know we barely know each other, but I—I was really nervous about moving to a new town where I didn’t know anyone, and you’ve—you’ve been so great. So… thank you, Connor.”

“Stop thanking me, Oliver. You’re cool. My friends like you. And I like you too.”

Connor’s eyes flicker to side. Oliver doesn’t say anymore, but a noticeable blush creeps up on his cheeks that has Connor smirking to himself.

They get to their street and eventually stop in front of Connor’s house. A few more steps and Oliver would be in front of his own. Connor wonders if he should invite the other man inside, maybe make some excuse about meeting his mother? He’s sure he could somehow convince the other man to take some more zucchini off their hands—

“You got any eggplant?” Oliver suddenly blurts out.

“What?”

“Um…” Oliver looks embarrassed at his outburst. But he’s got to go for it now. “Eggplant. I was uh… I was going to make eggplant parmesan for my parents—for dinner. Um… they really like eggplant. Do you have any? I—I have no car, so I can’t go to the store… Um you said uh… you said I could…”

Connor grins widely. His work has been done for him. “Yeah, we’ve got eggplant. Come on in.”

“Hey mom,” Connor greets his mother, who’s in the midst of preparing dinner in the kitchen.

She smiles when she turns around and sees them. “Who’s this?” She asks glancing at Oliver.

“This is Oliver Hampton, our new neighbor. Oliver, this is my mom.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Walsh.” Oliver says politely.

“He’s _borrowing_ an eggplant,” Connor jokes, grabbing a plastic bag before leading them to the pantry.

“Oh, I hope you enjoy it,” she says nicely. And then when her eyes meet her son’s, she quickly mouths _give him some zucchini too._

Connor rolls his eyes as he turns away from his mother. As if she even needs to say it.

“Wow. You were kidding when you said you had piles of zucchini.” Oliver’s eyes are wide as he looks at the grotesque pile overflowing in the space designated for it.

“Every. Single. Year.” Connor groans as he kneels down and picks the nicest looking eggplant to put in the bag. “I swear you’d think we’d all be used to it by now. But it really is shockingly abundant. We end up eating nothing but zucchini for _weeks,_ ” he says with a chuckle. And of course, he reaches over _next to_ where the eggplants sit and starts filling the rest of the bag with more zucchini.

“Um. What are you doing?”

“Hm?” Connor glanced up at Oliver innocently. “What?”

“Why are you giving me—”

“We literally have more zucchini than we know what to do with,” Connor says in a low voice. “If you want the eggplant you’re taking the zucchini with it.”

“Uh… o-okay… I think…”

“Enjoy!” Connor exclaims as he stands and passes the bag over to the other man. “Hope your parents like the eggplant parm!”

“Oh—right—eggplant parm—Um… thanks. I… guess I’ll be going now.”

Connor grins like an idiot the whole time he walks Oliver to the door.

“He seems like a nice boy,” Mrs. Walsh says to her son when he returns to the kitchen to see what’s cooking on the stove for tonight.

“He is.”

“You seem to enjoy each other’s company,” she says, clearly hinting at something in her words.

“Mom…” Connor groans. “Please don’t start…”

“It’s a small town, Connor. The good ones get snatched up quickly—”

“You’re worse than Gemma,” Connor says, cutting her off. He glares at his mother, then seems to think better of it as she’s not even looking at him, and instead glares at the zucchini on her cutting board being sliced for dinner.

His mother is right though. Oliver’s one of the sweetest guys he’s ever met. A complete dork, and Connor means that in a good way. Every time they hang out, the long hours of the summer day seem to just fly by. And it’s wonderful spending them talking, laughing, just… getting to know each other and being themselves. It’s… nice. Certainly not what he’s used to. With other guys, there’s always pressure to impress. It feels like he’s always wearing a facade that’s not _really_ him. It’s tiring. Annoying. But it’s not like that with Oliver. It’s more genuine, and never forced.

Not that they’ve been on dates or anything. Or that they’ve even discussed the possibility. Every time they hang out and it’s just the two of them, Connor flirts… excessively. But Oliver seems to think it’s just a part of his personality because he never responds to it. He just… blushes. And damn if that doesn’t make Connor want him even more. He’s fucking adorable. Easy on the eyes too.

Maybe over time, Oliver will become more receptive to his advances… After all, Connor Walsh is a fucking catch (in his opinion, anyway).

_I’m playing with my cock_

**_WTF CONNOR!!!_ **

_LMAO I’m hanging with the chickens out back. Come join me!_

**_Jesus christ what is wrong with you_ **

_Ollie!!_

**_Okay fine I’ll be right out_ **

Connor’s still laughing to himself by the time Oliver walks up the path between their houses and finds him behind the fence holding a temperamental rooster in his arms. The poor bird is not happy to be held.

“What the hell are you doing?” Oliver gapes at him.

“Oliver!” Connor exclaims, holding out the flapping bird in his hands. “Do you want to pet my cock?” He asks, raising an elegant eyebrow.

“You think you’re so fucking funny.”

“I think I’m hilarious,” Connor boasts. “Well? Do you like my cock?”

“Connor, please put Sir Roost-A-Lot down,” Oliver says gently. “I’m scared he’s going to peck your eyes out.”

Connor shakes with laughter. Then a particularly violent flap from Sir Roost-A-Lot and Connor yelps, dropping the large bird, who quickly collects himself and struts off to hang with the rest of the hens.

Connor seems to find the entire thing hilarious, and Oliver gives his friend the strangest look. “Are you stoned?”

Connor giggles. “I’m a bit high, yeah. Do you want some?”

Oliver winces. “Eh… no, I shouldn’t. Honestly, I’m still a bit hungover from yesterday.” Asher’s parents’ liquor cabinet strikes again.

Connor leans over and whispers. “Why do you think I got stoned? Headache gone like—” He snaps his fingers loudly. “Oooh I’m starving. Are you hungry?” He suddenly asks.

Oliver looks like he got whiplash from the quick change in conversation. “Um… I could eat.”

Connor grins and rushes off into the house.

Oliver watches him with his eyes before turning and giving a wistful glance to Sir Roost-A-Lot, who’s currently basking in the attention of half a dozen hens. He sighs, and follows Connor into the house. He groans as soon as he sees what Connor’s slicing at the counter. “Really? More zucchini? Can we eat literally anything but zucchini?”

“Welcome to the rural life, Oliver! Where during harvesting season we eat nothing but zucchini!”

Oliver groans and grumbles as he takes a seat on one of the barstools near the other counter to watch the other man work. “What… what are you doing?” He frowns watching the other man pull out a small appliance from one of the lower cabinets.

“It’s a deep fryer!”

“This looks dangerous,” Oliver murmurs, as Connor plugs in the deep fryer and fills it with vegetable oil. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Of course I do!” Connor has the audacity to sound insulted. He reaches for the pile of sliced zucchini—

“Well, the oil needs to be hot before you drop it in—”

“Oliver,” Connor interrupts. “Please. I know what I’m doing.” He drops the zucchini into the immersed basket.

Oliver makes a face at the _plop_ of the zucchini hitting the warm oil.

“This is going to be bad,” he murmurs to himself.

“Maybe some salt?” Connor says to himself, reaching for the shaker—

“No no no!” Oliver cries. “Add salt after you take it out of the deep fryer!”

Connor nods, making a face that says _good plan, old chap!_ And continues to shake the basket that’s just starting to heat up.

Oliver groans and sits back down in his seat. A buzz draws his attention downward. Connor’s phone has gone off. The screen’s lit up and he reads the text before he can tell himself that it’s private and none of his business.

_Hey wanna hang out sometime? I was thinking weekly drive by showing of Rocky Horror? I know we’ve seen it a dozen times, but we can always do stuff in the car ;)_

Oliver swallows the lump in his throat that is his jealousy and coughs awkwardly. “Um, your phone went off.”

“Who is it?” Connor asks without looking up.

“Uh… Pax?”

“Oh.” Connor’s not especially excited about that. “Eh, I’ll answer him later,” he says.

Oliver bites his lip, unable to help himself. “Who’s… who’s Pax?”

Connor looks up and crinkles his face in thought. “I think you might have met him once. That time we were all at the bowling alley, Pax was there with a couple of his buddies. He’s the… tall guy, with the… half sleeve.” He gestures to his upper arm.

_Ah._

Oliver nods to himself. The _gorgeous_ guy with the half sleeve. Right.

“Are you guys… a thing?”

“Oh god no,” Connor scoffs. “We hooked up a few times but… definitely not my boyfriend. Barely my friend, if I’m going to be honest.”

“Oh,” Oliver says softly, not sure if this information makes him feel better or worse.

“Snack’s ready!” Connor chimes, lifting the basket from the hot oil and spilling the contents on a plate, simultaneously dripping hot oil everywhere. He grabs the salt shaker and gives a generous shake over the zucchini and brings it over to the counter where Oliver’s sitting. “Help yourself!” He says with a grin.

Oliver frowns, looking down at the plate as Connor stabs a piece with a fork and blows on it.

“Careful! It’s hot!” He takes a cautious bite. “Oooh it’s delicious!”

Oliver raises a skeptical eyebrow and takes a small bite. Oil oozes out of the limp piece of zucchini between his teeth and dribbles down his lips. “It’s awful, Connor. Fucking awful.”

In the end, they don’t eat Connor’s pitiful attempt at deep fried zucchini, because Oliver insisted _it’s going to give us a heart attack!_ and _you made it wrong!_ and _it’s disgusting!_ So they go over to the Hampton’s place instead and raid the fridge over there. Connor’s cannabis influenced mind thought it would be appropriate to giggle at the pile of zucchini sitting on the Hampton’s counter, courtesy of the Walsh’s.

“Please don’t laugh, I’ve been eating zucchini for weeks. I’m going insane!”

“Oh please, you’re a zucchini noob. I’ve dealt with this every single year, my entire life! You weren’t around for the zucchini fiasco of ’96! You know nothing, Oliver Hampton!”

Oliver rolls his eyes. “I know if you try to pawn one more damn zucchini on me, I will _lose_ my mind.”

Connor smirks and continues his incessant snickering. Oliver has no idea what he’s in for. But little does he know, Oliver doesn’t _really_ mind the excessive amount of zucchini that Connor subjects him and his family to. It’s all worth it to him…

A few days later, Connor answers his door to find Oliver on the other side. Not an uncommon occurrence these days.

“How about some broccoli?”

Connor raises an eyebrow.

“I’m making dinner again, I could use some broccoli.” Oliver says hopefully.

Connor narrows his eyes and lets the other man in.

“Alright. But you have to take three zucchini for every head of broccoli.”

Oliver sighs, like every other time, putting on a front like it’s a lot to consider. “That’s a hard bargain. But I’m desperate. I’ll take it!”

“I need to get rid of this zucchini, Oliver.” Connor says as they head to the pantry. “I can’t take it anymore!” He flips on the light switch in the small room and turns to the other man. “How many?”

“Um… two?”

Connor’s eyes widen hopefully.

“Three?”

Connor’s lips spread into a wide grin. “Three it is!” And that’s nine zucchini that he’ll be rid of!

Oliver’s holding the bag and Connor lets him pick out his broccoli. He just grabs the first three that he sees.

Connor delightedly hands him zucchini, one after another, to place in his bag. There’s a loud _smack_ when a large zucchini is placed in his hand, and Connor’s fingertips are warm when they touch his palm. “Careful, it’s a thick one.” Connor says with a wink.

As always, Oliver blushes and has to look away, unable to maintain eye contact. Even after all this time, he can’t bring himself to respond to Connor’s constant sexual innuendos. He takes a shaky breath when the bag is near full, and Connor climbs to his feet. He opens his mouth, wanting to say something, and Connor looks at him expectantly.

“Um… uh…” he stutters, cursing himself for his nerves. “Thanks for the vegetables! I’ll see you later!” And he rushes off before Connor can get a word out.

Connor doesn’t think much of it. Everyone has their weird days every now and again. He and Oliver have been spending a lot of time together lately. Sometimes with the rest of the gang, but many times it’s just the two of them. They’ll spending hours playing with the chickens. Oliver likes to chase the hens trying to catch them, then he immediately regrets it when Sir Roost-A-Lot starts chasing _him_. They’ll go to the town’s small, sad little theater, and then after the movie, hang out in the empty parking lot for hours discussing it. And sometimes they’ll walk to the convenience store (it’s about a forty minute walk) just to get soft serve ice cream, talking, laughing, and making jokes the whole time. Honestly, it’s probably one of the best summers Connor’s ever had. Not because anything particularly exciting happens. But because the company just _fits._

A few days later, Connor’s in his backyard tending to the chicken coop. He hears footsteps behind him and he grins thinking it’s Oliver, who never misses an opportunity to see the chickens.

But his smile falters a bit when he turns and sees Paxton Curtis behind him, standing by the fence that protects the chickens.

“Hey, long time no see!” Pax greets him.

“Hey Pax, how’s it going?” Connor sets down the bucket of chicken feed and cautiously steps closer to the gate. It suddenly dawns on him that he never responded to Pax’s text from a while ago.

“I hadn’t heard from you in a while, just wanted to see how things are going,” Pax says brightly.

“Pretty well, I guess.” Connor shrugs. At least the small talk comes easy to him. “Enjoying what little is left of summer.”

“Yeah, dreading the school year?”

“Oh yeah! Definitely.”

“So… what are you doing this weekend?”

Connor’s eyes widen. “Um…” The current consensus was that they were going to take Wes’s father’s truck and head out to the cow pastures on Route 12. Oliver didn’t believe that drunk young delinquents in rural areas _do not_ on any regular basis, sneak into cow pastures and tip over snoozing cows. In fact, the feat is quite impossible, which Oliver will soon learn. And they would have better luck tipping over a small sedan than a living, breathing cow.

“Uh… just hanging out with some friends…”

“Well, my parents are going to be out of town this weekend, so I’m throwing a party Saturday night. You should definitely stop by. And your friends can come too.”

Connor considers it. “Is there going to be a keg?”

Pax laughs. “Of course! My cousin’s getting it for us.”

Connor nods. An obnoxious amount of bad beer is definitely one way to make a dull evening more interesting. “Yeah, we’ll probably make it.”

A wide grin spreads on Pax’s face. “Great! I’ll see you there!” He gently rests his hand over Connor’s where it’s sitting on top of the fence. “Should be a fun night!” He waves a quick goodbye before turning and walking away, leaving Connor with an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach.

It’s not that he doesn’t like Pax. Or that the few times they hooked up was awful. In fact, it was pretty damn mind blowing. The problem is, whenever they spend time together that involves them keeping their lips and hands to themselves, and their clothes _on_ … it’s… _boring._ So fucking boring. Almost like work.

Connor decides not to think too much about it, and bends down to pick up the bucket he had set down earlier. When he straightens and happens to glance up, the movement of a shadow in Oliver’s bedroom window catches his eye. But when he continues to stare at the window, it’s just… empty. He could have sworn he saw Oliver there a second ago. That bad feeling in the pit of this stomach is back, and he can’t quite understand why it’s bothering him so much.

He’s not terribly concerned until he texts Oliver a few hours later, asking if he’s still coming to bowling with the gang that night. Oliver replies with something that sounds an awful lot like a made up excuse for his absence. Connor frowns, incredibly disheartened. But Oliver doesn’t seem to want to hang out with him the next day either, or the day after that. Until the day of Pax’s party and Connor calls Michaela because Oliver hadn’t been picking up his calls.

“Have you heard from Oliver lately?”

_“Yeah, I spoke to him yesterday. He seems to be acting a bit weird. But he’s definitely not coming tonight. Said he just wants to stay in or something.”_

“What is going on with him?”

_“I don’t know, Connor. But I’m sure it’s got to be your fault.”_

“What?!”

_“Well, let’s be honest. Most things are.”_

“Goodbye. Michaela.”

Connor huffs under his breath as he knocks on the Hampton’s door for the third time. No answer. He’d called Oliver’s phone probably a dozen times already. No answer. He’s so peeved at this point that he stomps back to his own house, and returns with a large basket full to the brim with zucchini, that he leaves on the Hampton’s doorstep.

“That’ll show him,” he grumbles to himself as he leaves.

He has a miserable time at Pax’s party that night. Everybody is drunk but him. Even his own friends are acting like drunk idiots. And all he wants to do is talk to Oliver. At one point, Pax even tries to get handsy with him. He makes an excuse to leave quickly after that.

The next day, he decides enough is enough.

And when he knocks on the Hampton’s door, thankfully Mrs. Hampton answers it.

Connor grins widely. “Hi Mrs. Hampton! Is Oliver home?”

“He is! Come on in!” Mrs. Hampton says warmly. “I’m glad to see you, Connor. Oliver seems to have become a bit of a recluse lately. I’m kind of worried about him honestly.”

“Well, I’m here to fix that! I’ll just… head upstairs?” He points the way.

Mrs. Hampton grins gratefully at him, and he heads on his way.

“Oliver!” He screeches as soon as he bursts open the door to the other man’s bedroom.

Oliver jumps in shock, headphones ripped out of his ears.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Uh… uh… nothing—?”

“We’re going on an adventure!” Connor says loudly.

“Wh-what?”

“Come on!” Connor reaches for the other man’s arm, displacing Oliver’s laptop from his lap and pulling him to his feet. “Let’s go! We’re going to have fun,” he says sternly.

“What’s happening?” Oliver whispers.

“You’ve been holed up in here for far too long, lord knows why. I’m taking you with me to have fun!”

“What are we doing?”

“We are seizing the day! We are going to have a good time! We are young, we are healthy, and we are going to take advantage of that! No more of this lazing about!”

“Wait! Wait! Wait!” Oliver says as Connor’s pulling him out of his room. “I’m not dressed!”

Connor looks him up and down for the first time, and notices that his t-shirt and shorts are not _as nice_ as his usual t-shirt and shorts attire. These must be his jammies. “You look fine,” Connor says bluntly. “And life is not going to wait while you get dressed, Oliver. Let’s go!”

“I don’t understand—what are we doing? What are we—”

Not ten minutes later: “I fucking hate you.”

Connor smirks at him from the driver’s seat. “Oh come on, Ollie—”

“THIS IS YOUR IDEA OF FUN?? THIS IS YOUR IDEA OF SEIZING THE DAY?? YOU WANT ME TO DRIVE AROUND TOWN WITH YOU WHILE YOU FIND UNLOCKED CARS TO DEPOSIT MORE OF YOUR FUCKING ZUCCHINI???”

Connor laughs. “Well, when you put it that way—”

“Why did you drag me out for this?”

Connor is quiet as he pulls into the movie theater parking lot. He sighs softly as he turns the engine off. “I just… I feel like it got weird between us all of a sudden… and… I’m not sure why. You’ve definitely been avoiding me, Oliver.”

Oliver doesn’t answer. He just swallows silently and looks down at his hands in his lap.

“I—I missed you. I missed hanging out with you. You just—stopped picking up my calls out of nowhere—I… did I do something wrong? If I did, please tell me!”

“No. No, you didn’t,” Oliver finally says softly.

“Then why are you ignoring me?”

Oliver takes a deep breath and lets it out in a heavy sigh. “Connor… Connor, I don’t know how to cook.”

“What?” Connor asks, confused.

Oliver turns to him. “I don’t know how to cook. And all those times, that I asked you for eggplant, and tomatoes, and broccoli, and I said I was going to make dinner for my parents—it was all bullshit! I don’t know how to cook, Connor. I’m from the city. We order take out.”

“Uh… okay…?”

“I just…” Oliver trails off with shaky laughter before he takes a breath and tries again. “I’ve pretty much had the biggest crush on you since the day we met.”

Connor’s eyes widen comically as he stares at the other man.

“Like… the biggest crush. It’s fucking embarrassing. I can’t even look at you without getting butterflies in my stomach—”

“Ollie—”

“And like, I’ve tried so many times to say something—”

“Oliver—”

“And it’s not exactly a secret that you’ve hooked up with quite a few people in town—”

“What—how did you—” Connor sputters senselessly. 

“Michaela told me—”

“I’m gonna kill her—”

“Anyway, it doesn’t even matter, because I know that you would never go for a guy like me, when you could literally have any guy you wanted, so I’m just not even going to—”

A loud knock on Connor’s driver’s side window has them both jumping in their seats.

It’s Pax.

Connor rolls down the window. “Hey, Pax.” He’s a bit peeved at the interruption. “What’s up?”

“How’s it going, Connor?”

“Um…” Connor’s eyes shift from side to side. “Just… hanging out…”

Pax’s eyes flicker between him and Oliver in the passenger seat, who looks about as uncomfortable as it is possible to look.

“You guys are just… hanging out in the parking lot?”

Connor sighs. Well they were _finally_ having an in depth conversation about their feelings. But sure… hanging out in a parking lot sounds about right. “Yup.”

Pax’s eyes wander to the rest of the car, and eventually land on the backseat, where rests an exceptionally large basket of _zucchini._

“I could take some of that zucchini off your hands,” Pax says, all the intension in the world in his voice.

Connor blinks. “Like… all of it?”

Pax grins. And his only response is a wink.

Connor sighs. It’s Pax. Pax… offering to take his entire load of zucchini… but again… it’s _Pax._

“No.”

“What—?” Two simultaneously voices interrupt him.

“I said no.” Connor clarifies slowly. “This zucchini… I’m giving it to Oliver.”

Pax stares at him, confused. And a bit concerned.

“I’m giving it to Oliver,” Connor says sternly, enunciating every word.

“O-okay…”

“Goodbye.” Connor thinks rolling up the window should make his point pretty clear.

He turns to Oliver, who’s staring at him like he’s grown two heads. “I’m giving you my zucchini,” he states bluntly.

“What…?”

“Oliver, you’re pretty much the best thing that’s happened to me in this town,” Connor says, matter-of-factly. “Seriously, in all my sixteen years here, _you_ are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve liked you, since the very first day we met. In case you hadn’t noticed all the hints I’ve been dropping—”

“I noticed, I thought you were joking—”

“I. Wasn’t. Joking.” Connor says slowly. “Oliver. I’m going to give you my zucchini.”

Oliver raises his eyebrows.

“I’m not talking about the vegetable. I’m talking about my penis,” Connor clarifies.

“Yeah—yeah, I got that.”

They both pause for a second. “But you’ve got to take the zucchini as well,” Connor says, nodding to the large basket in the back seat. “I’m serious.”

“Oh!” Oliver blinks. And he pauses like he has to seriously consider it for a moment. “Eh…”

“OLIVER!”

**Author's Note:**

> [x](http://winters-blue-children.tumblr.com)


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